Goodbye
by NCISVILLE
Summary: The goodbye we all deserved for Grant Ward but never got.


**Because I think we all deserve this. A proper goodbye.**

 **Goodbye**

"Skye…" He gasped with his final breath. Their eyes met in his last second alive and she watched as his fear dissipated and relief flooded through. Even as Coulson crushed his heart it still beat for her. His body stilled and hers began to shake.

"No! Come back!" She cried running to him as Coulson stood up in surprise. He hadn't seen Skye standing in the background watching as he stole Ward's life force from him. He backed away as Skye slid onto the ground beside Ward. "No, come on. Wake up Ward. Wake up." She cried out, tears streaming down her face. She picked up his head and cradled his face, vaguely aware of the rocks shaking beside her.

"Daisy! We need to go! The portal is closing!" Fitz yelled breaking her attention. She looked up from Ward's pale, sunken face and to Fitz who was looking frantic. She could see just beyond him the portal closing and Coulson was still standing beside her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Forgive me." She whispered to Ward closing his eyes with her hand. She placed a gentle kiss on his slightly warm lips and eased him back down onto the ground. She wanted to hurt Coulson, to make him suffer for the cruel way he'd killed Ward. But right now she had to worry about getting back home and somehow getting Ward back there so she could bury him properly. He didn't deserve to die the way he had and despite every crime, he deserved a grave and not to rot away on this forsaken planet. Looking at the way his chest was broken made her want to throw up. It was sickening and knowing that Coulson was the one who had pushed until the bones gave way…that made her feel even more nauseous.

"Daisy…" Coulson began to say as she stood up. She just glared at him and that effectively stopped whatever words would have followed.

"Go." She growled. Coulson listened and began to ran to the portal grabbing Fitz with him. "I'm taking you home." She said quietly to Ward.

She grabbed underneath his arms and began to lug him toward the rapidly closing portal. She wasn't sure if she would make it back in time with how heavy he was but she wouldn't give up. She grunted and let her anger and sadness fuel her to propel the both of them to the portal and tumble through it. She fell onto the floor of the castle and grunted as Ward's body crushed her. Mack was there in a second to help her.

"Careful Mack, he's already dead." She warned, watching the surprise cross Mack's face. Mack nodded and carefully lifted Ward off of her and dragged him into the unit as she quickly scrambled in.

Mack gave the order for the missiles and in the next second they were flying up towards Zepher One. Skye curled up onto the floor and carefully laid Ward's head in her lap, running her fingers through his hair.

Everyone else was quiet and as they docked onto the plane she remained inside the containment unit.

"Tremors, are you okay?" Mack asked when he saw she still hadn't moved.

"No." She said, fresh tears falling. "I'm not okay. I just…I need some time alone with him."

"Let me help you carry him to the med bay."

"Why would you want to do that. You know who he is." She said, voice cracking.

"Because…he's still human and I'm a decent person." Mack replied waiting for Daisy to accept his offer.

She sniffled and nodded her head. "I'd like that. He's too heavy for me to carry."

Mack gave her a small smile and lifted Ward up again as though he was a feather. He carried Ward bridal style and Daisy followed close behind, trying to clear up her eyes so no one else could see she'd been crying. Least of all her team. She passed Lincoln and had to avert her eyes. She couldn't look at him, not now. She'd been flirting with him thinking she'd been over Ward and that wasn't the case at all and she'd kissed them both and Ward more recently. It wouldn't be fair to him, not when she still clearly cared about Ward. She wanted him back, wanted to see that look in his eyes again when he saw her standing in front of him.

She'd gone through the portal to help out Coulson and Fitz but it turns out Ward had needed her help more and she couldn't save him. At least he hadn't died alone but he also had died thinking she didn't care about him and that wasn't true. She had thought it was but it wasn't. She had only been lying to herself all these months. More tears appeared and this time she couldn't get rid of them.

When they got to the med bay Mack lay Ward on one of the tables and she thanked him as he left her alone. She got up on the table and put his head in her lap again, stroking his hair.

"I'm so sorry Ward. I failed you. I couldn't save you. I was too late. You were always there saving me and the one time you needed me to save you I wasn't there. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to die that way. At least now I can bury you the way you deserve. I'll arrange a little funeral for you, and come visit as often as I can. I did care about you…do care. I'll make sure you have justice for the way you died. It doesn't matter the crimes you committed or that you hurt me…Coulson…he had no right to take your life that way. He could have left you on that planet, he could have shot you but instead he knelt down and crushed your chest, crushed your heart and for that he'll answer for what he's done." As she spoke her heart broke and more tears fell.

"Daisy…" Of course it was Coulson. The one person she did not want to see for the next forty-eight hours possibly the next week until she could calm down.

"What do you want? Come to rip his crushed heart out of his broken rib cage?" She hissed at him.

Coulson frowned. "No, I-"

"Was just leaving if you don't want me to bring this plane crashing down." She seethed.

"We should talk."

"We can talk after his funeral and after I've calmed down to the point where I don't want to crush your heart. What you did was so wrong! It was cruel and unnecessary and you have no explanation that can ever justify your actions! You always called him a monster but right now all I can see is the monster who knelt beside him and pushed down on his bones until they collapsed and punctured his already crushed heart. Now….Get. Out before I scream and crash this plane." She threatened menacingly. Her heart was hardened to Coulson and anything he might say.

Coulson opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. He turned around and exited from the med bay just before Daisy began to break down in sobs. She slid down onto the table laying beside Ward, holding his broken body to her. She left him hours later to finally go to bed and showered feeling so numb. She locked her door and put a sign on it telling everyone not to bother her. Before she fell asleep she looked up funeral homes near the base and a place for him to be buried. She tried to fall asleep but every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Coulson killing him. Unable to take it anymore she made her way back to the med bay and brought a small blanket. It was dark and no one was in there except for Ward's dead body. The room was kept cold to preserve the dead which was great for Ward but bad for her, that's why she had brought the blanket. She climbed up on the small table with him and held his cold hand in her warm one. With the blanket wrapped around her tightly she laid her head on his collarbone, pretending that he was still alive and holding her to him. She closed her eyes and this time she didn't see him dying but rather his life and the time they'd spent together.

XxxxXXxxxGoodbyexxxXXxxxX

4 Days Later

"Goodbye Ward." She whispered placing a hand on his coffin. "I loved you, rest in peace now." Rather than place a flower on his coffin she placed a small plastic battleship on top.

She stepped back and nodded to the people who were around waiting to lower his coffin in and bury him. Tears had stained her face for the past four days and she thought she would have run out of water to bleed out through her eyes but it still kept pouring out and continued to now as his coffin was lowered and began to be covered. She stayed there until his coffin was covered and the men had left. She knelt beside his headstone and laid a hand on it.

 _Grant Douglas Ward_

 _Beloved Friend and Soldier_

 _1983-2015_

It seemed wrong that the sun was shining as she buried him. She wanted it to pour, for the rain to fall as if the Earth too was mourning the tragic way he'd been ripped from it. But instead it was sunny with not a cloud in sight as if to say the Earth was happy that he was gone. It wasn't right. She stayed sitting beside his grave, her head resting on his headstone for a few hours until the sun began to fall and night arose.

She gave him a final goodbye before leaving and taking a taxi out to a bar. She needed a drink, she needed to get drunk and she just wanted to forget, to make the pain go away for at least one night.

When she got back to the base hours later, she stumbled in completely wasted, almost unable to see straight and she collapsed in bed falling asleep beside the photo of her and Ward she'd found and framed.

"I miss you." She slurred to the picture before sleep claimed her.

Grant Ward was dead and buried but at least he was finally at peace, it would just take a long time for her to be at peace.

XxxxXXxxxEndxxxXXxxxX


End file.
